Snow sheep

Snow sheep
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Caprinae
Tribe:	Caprini
Genus:	Ovis
Species:	O. nivicola
Binomial name
	Ovis nivicola; Eschscholtz, 1829

The snow sheep (Ovis nivicola), or Siberian bighorn sheep, is a species of sheep from the mountainous areas in the northeast of Siberia. One subspecies, the Putorana snow sheep (Ovis nivicola borealis), lives isolated from the other forms in the Putoran Mountains.

Subspecies

Kolyma snow sheep, O. n. ssp^{[citation needed]}
Koryak snow sheep, O. n. koriakorum
Okhotsk snow sheep, O. n. alleni
Yakutian snow sheep, O. n. lydekkeri
Kamchatkan snow sheep, O. n. nivicola
Putorana snow sheep, O. n. borealis
Chukotka snow sheep, O. n. tschuktschorum^[1]

Taxonomy and genetics

Ovis nivicola appeared about 600,000 years ago. These wild sheep crossed the Bering land bridge from Siberia into Alaska during the Pleistocene (about 750,000 years ago); the sheep diverged into the three extant species. The snow sheep is most closely related to the North American bighorn sheep and Dall sheep.

References

^ ^a ^b Harris, R.B. & Tsytsulina. K. (2008). "Ovis nivicola". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T15740A5076357. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T15740A5076357.en. Retrieved 12 January 2018. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern.

External links

Ovis nivicola, Snow Sheep, on ultimateungulate.com

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[iucn-1] Harris, R.B. & Tsytsulina. K. (2008). "Ovis nivicola". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T15740A5076357. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T15740A5076357.en. Retrieved 12 January 2018. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern.

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